NC State tight end Trent Pennix learned the hard way that a player’s greatest strength is being available to play.
Pennix suffered an injury the season opener against East Carolina and missed the next six games. He also didn’t play against Louisville, was limited to 11 snaps against North Carolina and didn’t play in the bowl loss against Maryland. As a result, he’s putting in extra work every day to make sure his shoulder is good to go, even if he feels he’s at 100 percent this spring.
“I honestly feel great,” Pennix said. “I’m doing treatment on my shoulder, and even though I am feeling good, I am living in that training room. There is not a day that I don’t go in that training room. I am one of the first people there. I was there at 5:30 a.m. this morning [Tuesday].
“As coach says, the only way we can go far is if everybody is available. The only way you can get better is to be available.”
Pennix knows he has a chance to thrive in new offensive coordinator Robert Anae’s offense.
“We had a conversation and he was like, ‘I can really make you an All-American if you just let me work with you,’” Pennix said. “Just watching film during winter workouts, we watched film on the in-stall and getting the plays down. It’s just so much simpler. We can just move so much faster and not really think as much compared to [former NCSU offensive coordinator Tim] Beck’s offense, and no offense to Beck’s offense.
“We know we can make it far this year. We can get to a New Year’s Six Bowl.”
The 6-foot-3, 230-pound converted running back caught 17 passes for 246 yards and three touchdowns in 2021. That fell to eight catches for 111 yards and two scores in five games played last year.
“He scores every time he plays, so it would be nice if we had him,” NC State coach Dave Doeren said. “He’s a talented young guy and is unique. He has been through a lot with nagging things here and there.”
Pennix has played 42 games in his five-year NC State career, with 39 carries for 173 yards and 40 catches for 522 yards and eight touchdowns. He arrived as a Rivals.com three-star prospect from Raleigh Sanderson High, where he was joined by former Wolfpack star and Detroit Lions nose tackle Alim McNeill. They helped put Sanderson High on the map in the area, and Pennix picked NC State over Virginia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Louisville, Wake Forest, Minnesota and West Virginia.
Because of his ability to catch the ball, there was some chatter he could end up in a unique role like Jaylen Samuels performed at NC State. After playing running back for a few years, he plunged into being a H-back type.
“I can use my speed and I can use my strength,” Pennix said. “I just have to be available.
“Football doesn’t last long at all and there is so much that comes with this sport.”
Pennix rushed 201 times for 1,247 yards and 16 touchdowns, and caught 34 passes for 397 yards and three more scores his senior year. He also could have projected at outside linebacker.
“His body has filled out and he got thicker and thicker,” Doeren said. “With the experience we had with Jaylen Samuels, we thought he could give us a similar weapon that we can use in a variety of ways in matchup problems.”
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